The Yankees began a vital four-game series last night against the Angels. They desperately needed to lose as many of these games as possible.
Wait. What?
Obviously, the best outcome for the Yankees would be to surge and make the playoffs, but that is going to mean playing roughly .700 ball the rest of the way just to be viable for the second wild card. Coolstandings.com gives the Yankees a 3.3 percent chance of doing that.
You needn’t simulate the season millions of times on a computer to recognize how slim-to-none the Yankees’ possibilities are, especially if Mariano Rivera is going to struggle to the finish line, which would debilitate what has been the team’s one strength — late-game relief.
Before winning 2-1 last night, the Yanks were further away from the second wild card (seven games) than from the 10th-worst record in the majors (six), which was owned by the Angels. In the big picture — unless you see a championship in 2013 — the Yanks would be best served with a bottom-10 record. Which is why these games against the Angels have significance.
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The Yankees are facing many rough years unless they begin to inject high-end young talent into the organization, so the poorer the record, the better the draft pick next June for a team that has not picked in the top 12 since Derek Jeter went sixth in 1992.
Here is why the bottom 10 is so important: Those teams have protected first-round picks if they sign an outside free agent who was tendered a contract. If the Yankees plan to contend next year, they will have to address their offense, even if they re-sign Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson or both. There are no obvious offensive prospects ready and that lack is going to make it hard for the Yankees to give up the few they have to make a trade for an Asdrubal Cabrera or a Michael Cuddyer, much less a Giancarlo Stanton or a Carlos Gonzalez — if someone that good actually reaches the marketplace.
Thus, to upgrade, the Yankees very well may have to look to free agency, where players such as Carlos Beltran, Shin-Soo Choo, Stephen Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann probably will be tendered. Should this version of the Yankees actually give up a pick in the 11-17 range for those kind of players, as helpful as they would be in the short run?
The Yankees currently are in the worst place a team can be: Not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to have one of the 10-worst records. The Yankees have the 15th-best record in a 30-team league. Still, even drafting 15th next June would be the highest for the Yankees since 1993.
However, they have missed the playoffs just once since then, in 2008, and reacted by guaranteeing $423.5 million to CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett as free agents. They also forfeited their own first-, second- and third-round draft picks (the first was used by the Angels to take Mike Trout).
But the Yankees were in a different place in their history then from now, when it appears they will miss the playoffs again. They were opening a new stadium in 2009 with extravagant pricing that forced them to damn the future to be elite in the present. They also remained a championship-level team not in as obvious a state of decay as today, when their combo of too many old players and not enough difference-making youngsters promises plenty of bleak years ahead. Plus, they have stated the desire to try to stay under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for next season, which will make any signings trickier if they hold to that philosophy.
Maybe they have a run in them. But the second wild card probably is going to need at least 92 wins, which would necessitate a 32-13 tear. Whereas a 14-31 close would take the Yankees to 74 wins, which has been the average the past 10 years for the 10th-worst team in the majors. In that period, the 10th-worst club has had as few as 72 wins and as many as 77.
There are fascinating clubs that have worse records than the Yankees, including the defending champion Giants, and clubs that were going for it in 2013 such as the Angels, Nationals, Phillies and Blue Jays. All of those teams could be active in free agency, as well, and would benefit from a bottom-10 finish. The Mets have the 17th-worst record.
Last year, the Mets had the 10th-worst record, but the 11th draft pick because the Pirates had not signed their selection from 2012. Because of that technicality, the Mets could not sign a free agent without losing the 11th pick and, in particular, passed on Michael Bourn because of that. Their rebuilding would be further helped if they could protect another top-10 pick while still using their Johan Santana and Jason Bay money to chase the best free agents.
But the Mets are in a different place in their history. They are trying to win because their manager wants to save his job and because they are attempting to win back their fan base by gaining momentum into next year.
The Yankees, though, would gain very little from winning but not making the playoffs. Thus, it might seem counterintuitive, but the Yankees’ near future is best served if they lose like heck the next seven weeks.
joel.sherman@nypost.com